Friday, August 30, 2013

So this week I have had some fun creating, not only one holiday craft but two! I guess it was double the fun because I made reversible blocks, Christmas on one side, Thanksgiving or Fall on the other. I got the Idea from Pintrest, but added my own little twist. I didn't just paint the blocks, I decided to use different patterned scrapbook paper and Mod Podge my blocks. From the beginning: I bought some paper at our local craft store, I bought the paper that has one design on one side and another design on the other side. This way I didn't have to buy as much paper...I know I am pretty cheap, but it did save me a couple of dollars!!

When I got home I cut out the paper to fit the blocks, and put them in the order that I wanted them in. After I cut out the Christmas paper I used them as a pattern to cut out the Fall paper. I just traced around them and then cut them. I don't have a paper cutter, but I am sure that would be the easiest way to do it.

While I was cutting out the paper for the blocks, my sister painted the blocks that they were going to go on. We didn't bother painting the entire blocks because they would just be covered with paper anyway.

I know she would appreciate me putting this picture online :)

As you can tell the blocks are far from perfect, but they will still look just as good even if we had taken the time to paint them all of the way.

Once the paint dried I laid the paper on top of the blocks to make sure the paper fit good and to make sure I liked how it looked.

I cut my paper pretty close to the size of the blocks as you can see here. If you want to see more of the block all you would have to do is trim the paper a little bit more...but I am pretty sure most of us could have figured that out on our own!

Now for the fun part! Mod Podge. I like this part. How I do it is I put some on the block itself and then on the back of the paper. I place the paper on the block and then brush more on the front of the paper. It brushes on white, but when it dries it will look clear.

Bubbles are one thing that I hate when using Mod Podge, I have found though that using thicker paper doesn't bubble as much. If you don't have thicker paper, that's fine too, you just have to not be a perfectionist at first. The paper will bubble, but try not to mess with it too much, when it dries most of the bubbles, if not all of them, will fade away. It is kind of like magic! It will only make you crazy in the process if you are like me!

While you let the Mod Podge dry... (PS only do one side at a time, or else you will have a mess.) Anyway while it dries you can start with the vinyl. It will come in a sheet like this. It will have a clear plastic over the letters that you will peel off later but for now you can cut the individual letters apart. It doesn't have to look fancy at all. (You can get the letters from The Vinyl Express for $6.00.)

As you can tell not fancy!

Once the Mod Podge dried (mine took about an hour to dry, you can wait a little bit longer if you want to be safe though) I placed the letters on the blocks so I could tell where I would want them to be placed. Then one by one I peeled the paper off and placed the vinyl letters on the blocks. I then took off the clear paper that covered the letters, leaving only the vinyl on the blocks.

It should look something like this.

This is what the first side looked like. Then I started the whole process over and did the same thing to the other side of the blocks.

This is what the other side looked like when I finished them.

I think they turned out super cute.

They would be cute with some Fall leaves or ornaments and jingle bells. My favorite though that would work for both would be pine cones!

What a fun addition to any home! You can also save some space in your storage for afterwards since they double for two holidays! :) ~Kelsie